The greatest experience of my twenty years in the publishing business has been working with Senator Edward M. Kennedy on his long-awaited autobiography, True Compass, which Twelve will publish on October 6th. For the past two years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity of asking Senator Kennedy every question I could think of – and receiving answers that deepened my understanding of national politics and took me inside one of the most heralded families in America. His book will be a revelation, an international event, and a lasting contribution to American history.

Senator Kennedy has been keeping a personal journal through nearly 50 years of his public life, beginning with John F. Kennedy’s campaign for president in 1960. Five years ago, he began an oral history project at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, where he began to address all aspects of his life – his family, his career in the Senate, and his view of the historic events of our time. Since deciding to write his memoirs, he has been working with collaborator Ron Powers, co-author of the #1 bestseller Flags of Our Fathers and author of Mark Twain: A Life, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

We’re still tinkering with the manuscript – it’s 650 pages and we want to get every detail right – but when we publish in October, expect one of the best books of the year. I’ve read every word of it multiple times, and it is dazzling – a candid, heartfelt, and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life. I can’t wait to share it with you.

To sign up for information on how to receive a signed, leather-bound limited edition, click here. Only 1,000 will be sold to the public.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Karp
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
TWELVE